Jaguar XJ40 Chasseur Stealth

If this week’s Jaguar XJ40 Chasseur Stealth auction car is a mystery to you, join the club. In the 1980s, tuning was becoming big business and AMG, BMW’s embryonic M Division, and TWR were all fettling Mercedes, BMWs and Jaguars for queues of doubtless red-braced city types. And then there was ex-RAF man and famed Jaguar guru Chaz Whitaker and his Chasseur Developments…

Since virtually singlehandedly inventing the ultra quick saloon in the 1960s with the Mk2 3.8 MOD, in the intervening 20 years, Jaguar had somewhat dropped the ball on the four-door sports car market. In V12 form, the XJ was certainly quick, and the XJ40 similarly sprightly, but these cars were more pipe and slippers than Woodbine and driving gloves.

In the 1980s, that began to change with the TWR-fettled XJ-S touring cars, whose DNA filtered down – a bit – into the firm’s saloon and coupe road cars. The absence created a gap for an army of backstreet specialists, such as Whitaker, who began modifying Jaguars in 1983. In 1986, he set up Chasseur Developments, its name presumably a play on his first name, but an oddly monikered addition to the pantheon of tuners.

Three years later, the first fruits of his endeavours arrived, and its name, this time, wasn’t messing about. Based on the XJ40, the Stealth was a brutal beast that hiked power by fifty per cent over the standard car’s 225bhp thanks to bolting a pair of snorting, gulping Garrett T25 turbos to Jaguar’s AJ6 4.0-litre engine. That was the work of ’80s turbo gurus Turbo Technics. The suspension and steering were sharpened, and somewhat conflicting with the car’s name, there was a no-nonsense body kit incorporating twin bonnet scoops. The cost of all that work: a cool £50,000 in today’s money. To put that in perspective, the base XJ40 cost £78,000.

The Stealth could out-accelerate any four-door BMW, Audi or Mercedes. Contemporary reviewers lauded it. For Fast Lane and Performance Car, the acceleration was stunning, while the tweedy types at Country Life described the car as ‘tremendous’.

Precise figures are hard to find, but between thirty-one and forty-three Jaguar XJ40 Stealths were built. This is car number twenty-one. It is identical to the car displayed by Chasseur at the 1990 Earls Court Motor Show and looks smart in burgundy red with its array of Chasseur body additions, including those unusual bonnet edge vents. It has covered just 47,000 miles in the hands of a few keepers. The condition is impressive across the exterior and luxury Sovereign-specification beige leather.

The car comes to market fresh from over £4,000 of work including head gasket and water pump replacement and a full service, The bespoke Chasseur alloys have also been recently refurbished.

Chasseur was eventually bought out by Paramount Performance, which then created the mid-’90s X300-based 450 Tornado. Again equipped with twin turbos, its 450bhp made Jaguar’s own 320bhp XJR look pedestrian. But the XJR was a sign that Jaguar was rediscovering its performance mojo, and time was being called on the independent tuning game.

The Stealth is the enthusiast’s enthusiast car, the ultra-rare, left field model that is as fascinating as it is reputedly fun to drive. It’s the sort of car that will gather crowds at Club shows, even where more exotic or valuable machinery assembles.

Whether you buy this for the neck-swivelling kudos of admirers or because you want arguably the ultimate ’80s Jaguar performance saloon, the Stealth is bound to be rewarding. We’re sorely tempted and envious of the lucky winning bidder when this crosses the auction line.

You can find out more about our Jaguar XJ40 Chasseur Stealth auction here.